Fold up retrievable anchor

ABSTRACT

This invention describes an improved type of anchor for small craft which comprises a plurality of arms with flukes on the end. These are spaced circumferentially around a cylindrical tubular body. The arms are hinged so that they may be moved inwardly until they lie substantially along the body, or pulled outwardly where they are stopped at a preselected angle and serve as spades or flukes to dig into the sea floor. The body comprises a tubular member which has a longitudinal slot throughout its length and is closed at each end. The support member to which the anchor cable is attached, comprises a rod which has an eye at one end, to which the anchor cable is attached. At the other end is a spherical ball which is of diameter slightly less than the inner diameter of the cylindrical body. The ball is inserted into the tube with the rod fitting into the slot so that the eye extends to the outside. The ends of the cylinder are then closed, as by brazing or welding, so that the ball is locked inside of the tubular body. The plurality of flukes are arranged unsymmetrically so that on the side of the body corresponding to the position of the slot there are fewer flukes than on the opposite side. When the anchor is lowered by cable the support member will be at the end of the body opposite to which the flukes are attached. As the anchor is lowered it will rest on its bottom tip and the weight of the flukes will cause it to tilt in a direction opposite to that of the slot. With the anchor resting on two of the flukes, if the cable is pulled to the side, they will dig into the sand and mud until the anchor resists further movement. If it should happen that the fluke digs in under a rock or other obstacle, such that it is difficult to pull the anchor out simply by lifting the cable, then the direction of pull on the cable is reversed. This causes the ball to slide to the opposite end of the anchor body and by pulling in that direction the fluke is pulled out of the mud in the opposite direction to which it went in, and can be removed without difficulty.

United States Patent 11 1 Hogue 1 Oct.23, 1973 i 1 FOLD UP RETRIEVABLEANCHOR [76] Inventor: Ralph L. Hogue, R.R. 3, Box 14AB,

Wagoner, Okla.

221 Filed: Nov. 20, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 307,879

,[52 us. C1 ..114/20& R

6/1896 Switzerland 114/208 R Primary Examiner-Duane A. Reger AssistantExamin erGalen L. Barefoot Attorney-James R. Head et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT This invention describes an improved type of anchor forsmall craft which comprises a plurality of arms with flukes on the'end.These are spaced circumferentially around a cylindrical tubular body.The arms are hinged so that they may be moved inwardly until they liesubstantially along the body, or pulled outwardly where they are stoppedat a preselected angle and serve as spades or flukes to dig into the seafloor. The body comprises a tubular member which has a longitu dinalslot throughout its length and is closed at each end. The support memberto which the anchor cable is attached, comprises a rod which has an eyeat one end, to which the anchor cable is attached. At the other end is aspherical ball which is of diameter slightly less than the innerdiameter of the cylindrical body. The ball is inserted into the tubewith the rod fitting into the slot so that the eye extends to theoutside. The ends of the cylinder are then closed, as by brazing orwelding, so that the ball is locked inside of the tubular body.

The plurality of flukes are arranged unsymmetrically so that on the sideof the body corresponding to the position of the slot there are fewerflukes than on the opposite side. When the anchor is lowered by cablethe support member will be at the end of. the body opposite to which theflukes are attached. As the anchoris lowered it will rest on its bottomtip and the weight of the flukes will cause it to tilt in a directionopposite to that of the slot. With the anchor resting on two of theflukes, if the cable is pulled to the side, they will dig into the sandand mud until the anchor resists further movement. If it should happenthat the fluke digs in under a rock or other obstacle, such that it isdifficult to pull the anchor out simply by lifting the cable, then thedirection of pull on the cable is reversed. This causes the ball toslide to the opposite end of the anchor body and by pulling in thatdirection the fluke is pulled out of the mud in the opposite directionto which it went in, and can be removed without difficulty.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENIEUum 23 I973 3. 766.878

sum 2 m 2 space. Still more specifically,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is in the field of craft.More specifically,

anchors for small this invention is concerned with the design of a smallanchor which has a plurality of arms or flukes which are hinged to alongitudinal body so that when the anchor is to be stowed away theflukes canbe pressed inwardly until they lie along the body andtherefore the anchor occupies a very small this invention concerns adesign of anchor that can readily be pulled out of the sea floor.

In the prior art there areinstances of anchors that are designed with asupport means which is slidable along the body of the device so that theanchor can be retrieved by pulling the anchor cable in a directionopposite that in which the anchor was set. Thus, the point of attachmentof the anchor cable is moved to the opposite end of the anchor bodyandtherefore provides a pull more or less along the direction of theflukes; However, this design has additional advantages in that theflukes can be hinged since they are in a position circumferentiallyabout the body of the anchor which keeps them out of interference withthe motion of the support means along the slot. Furthermore, the pointof attachment of the flukes is a short distance away from the second endof the body. Thus the body and the slot extend beyond the base of theflukes and the point of attachment of the pulling cable can then be setbeyond the point of attachment of the flukes to provide apositiveopposite pull. I

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a principal object of this invention toprovidea simple, small, stowable anchor which has means for positiveretrieval even though the anchor flukes are caught in a bindingposition.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an anchor in whicheach of the flukes is hinged so that they may lie longitudinally alongthe body of the anchor.

These and other objects of this invention arereali zed and thelimitations of the prior art are overcome by providing an anchor,- thebody of which is a long, cylindrical element with a longitudinal slotalong one side. The support member comprises a rod of diameter slightlyless than thewidth of the slot. One end of the support member has asphere attached which has a diameter slightly less than the innerdiameter of the cylindrical tube which forms the body. The opposite endof the support memberhas an eye to which the anchor cable can beattached. The ball of the support member is inserted into the cylinderwith the cylindrical rod portion passing through the slot. Both ends ofthe cylindrical tube are then closed over such as by welding or brazingso that the sphere is locked inside the tubular body and the rod canextend axially out of either end of the body.

A plurality of arms or flukes are hingedly attached near one end, whichwill be called the base end, the outer end being called the support end.These plurality of arms are hinged in such a manner that they can beplaced substantially along the body of the anchor, thereby providing asmall circular contour, making the device easily stowable. The shape ofthe hinged ends of the flukes is such that in the extended positiontheyare locked against the surface of the cylindrical body,

which prevents their extension to any greater diameter. They are hingedby means of a bolt which can be tightened to provide considerablefriction to the movement of the flukes so that once extended they willstay extended in the use of the anchor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS I These and other objects of thisinvention and a better understanding of the principles and details ofthe invention will be evident from the following description, taken inconjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 represents an overall view of the anchor of this invention withflukes extended.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 indicate three views of the anchor with the flukescompressed and positionedalongside the body of the anchor.

FIG. 5 indicates in schematic form the arrangement of the anchor withfour flukes.

FIG. 6 indicates the possible use of a weight on one or more of theflukes which will serve to cause the anchor to fall in the'properdirection to apply the flukes to the sea floor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT ameter 18 and has a slot 16which extends forthe full length of the body 10. A support member 12,which comprises a rod or stem at one end of which is an eye 9 to whichthe anchor support cable can be attached. At the other end there is asphere 14 of diameter less than the inner diameter 18 of the tubularbody. The stem l2 of the support member is slightly less in diameterthan the width of the slot 16, so that the handle can be pulledcompletely to the support end 10A of the body, of the body. The ends ofthe body are closed off by walls 20, arranged by welding that a pull canbe made with the stem 12 coaxial with the body and extending out ofeither end. i

The arrangement of the three arms 6 as shown in FIG. 4 is such that thethree arms are approximately apart with the slot opposite the middlearm.

In use, the three arms or flukes are pulled outward until the base 28 ispressed tightly against the outer wall of the body. In this way theflukes are wedged so that they resist further pullout, and therefore theflukes are in a strong restraining position. The anchor is loweredslowly by cable until it rests on the base end 10B of the body. In thatposition the fluke 6B is unbalanced. As the cable tied to eye 9 isreleased, the anchor will tend to fall over in the direction of arms 6Band the anchor will then rest on the flukes 6B and 6A or 6B and 6C. Bythis means the slot 16 will be in an upper position rather than behidden under the anchor when it digs in. By pulling along the supportend 10A, the flukes will or can be slid along the slot to the base end10B or brazing or such, so.

dig in, and the anchor will provide the desired restraint.

On the assumption that the anchor might dig in under a rock shelf, forexample, so that it will be impossible to release the anchor by pullingin the direction of the end A, the anchor cable can be pulled in theopposite direction. The support member 12 is thus moved to the base end10B. Then by pulling in the direction opposite to which the anchor waspulled when it was set, the anchor can be retrieved easily from anyposition where it might have been caught under an immovable object.

In FIGS. 3 and 6 is shown an additional weight 30, in the form of aspade, which can be attached as by bolts 32 to the arm 68. As the anchoris lowered to the bottom it will, with more assurance, be tilted in thedirection so as to dig in the fluke 6B with a companion 6A or 6C.

In FIG. 5 is indicated schematically an arrangement in which there arefour flukes spaced at 60 angle from each other. Weights such as 30 ofFIG. 6 can be applied to the flukes 6B and 6C so that the anchor willfall in such a direction that the two flukes 6B and 6C will dig in. Theslot in the body will be uppermost, thereby permitting free movement ofthe support member 12 from one end of the body to the other.

While the invention has been described with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in thedetails of construction and the arrangement of components. It isunderstood that the invention is not to be limited to the specificembodiments set forth herein by way of exemplifying the invention, butthe invention is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claimor claims, including the full range of equivalency to which each elementor step thereof is entitled.

What is claimed:

1. A reversible anchor comprising:

a. a long cylindrical tubular body closed at both ends, and having alongitudinal slot the full length of the body and one-half of each end;

b. a support member comprising a cylindrical neck portion, an eye on oneend for attachment of the anchor cable, a spherical ball on the otherend of said neck portion of size such as to slide freely inside thetubular body, said ball locked in by the two ends of said body but freeto move from one end to the other of said body; and

c. a plurality of arms or flukes attached to said body at a positionnear the base end of said body, said flukes spaced circumferentially onthe side opposite said slot.

2. The anchor as in claim 1 including means to hinge said flukes so thatthey can rotate between an outer locked position and an inner foldedposition, substantially parallel to said body.

3. The anchor as in claim 1 including means to weigh at least one flukeon the side opposite said slot.

4. The anchor as in claim 1 including three flukes arranged 90 from eachother with the center fluke 180 from said slot.

5. The anchor as in claim 1 including four flukes arranged from eachother on the side opposite to said slot.

1. A reversible anchor comprising: a. a long cylindrical tubular bodyclosed at both ends, and having a longitudinal slot the full length ofthe body and onehalf of each end; b. a support member comprising acylindrical neck portion, an eye on one end for attachment of the anchorcable, a spherical ball on the other end of said neck portion of sizesuch as to slide freely inside the tubular body, said ball locked in bythe two ends of said body but free to move from one end to the other ofsaid body; and c. a plurality of arms or flukes attached to said body ata position near the base end of said body, said flukes spacedcircumferentially on the side opposite said slot.
 2. The anchor as inclaim 1 including means to hinge said flukes so that they can rotatebetween an outer locked position and an inner folded position,substantially parallel to said body.
 3. The anchor as in claim 1including means to weigh at least one fluke on the side opposite saidslot.
 4. The anchor as in claim 1 including three flukes arranged 90*from each other with the center fluke 180* from said slot.
 5. The anchoras in claim 1 including four flukes arranged 60* from each other on theside opposite to said slot.